Saud dynasty and unification
See also: Unification of Saudi Arabia
Expansion of the first Saudi State in 1810
The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as
the Al Saud, began at the town of Diriyah in Nejd in central Arabia with the
accession as emir of Muhammad bin Saud on 22 February 1727.[91][92] In
1744 he joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-
Wahhab,[93] founder of the Wahhabi movement, a strict puritanical form of
Sunni Islam.[94] This alliance provided the ideological impetus to Saudi
expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.[95]
The Emirate of Diriyah established in the area around Riyadh rapidly
expanded and briefly controlled most of the present-day territory of Saudi
Arabia, sacking Karbala in 1802, and capturing Mecca in 1803. In 1818, it
was destroyed by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha.
[96]
The much smaller Emirate of Nejd was established in 1824. Throughout
the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of
what was to become Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al
Rashid, who ruled the Emirate of Jabal Shammar. By 1891, the Al Rashid
were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile in Kuwait.[75]
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Ibn
Saud, the founding father and first king of Saudi Arabia, in Egypt in 1945
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to
control or have a suzerainty over most of the peninsula. Subject to this
suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers,[97][98] with
the Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the Hejaz.[99] In
1902, Abdul Rahman's son, Abdulaziz—later known as Ibn Saud—
recaptured control of Riyadh bringing the Al Saud back to Nejd, creating
the third "Saudi state".[75] Ibn Saud gained the support of the Ikhwan, a tribal
army inspired by Wahhabism and led by Faisal Al-Dawish, and which had
grown quickly after its foundation in 1912.[100] With the aid of the Ikhwan, Ibn
Saud captured Al-Ahsa from the Ottomans in 1913.
In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting
the Ottomans in World War I), the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, led a
pan-Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state.
[101]
Although the revolt failed in its objective, the Allied victory in World War I
resulted in the end of Ottoman suzerainty and control in Arabia, and
Hussein bin Ali became King of Hejaz.[102]
Ibn Saud avoided involvement in the Arab Revolt and instead continued his
struggle with the Al Rashid. Following the latter's final defeat, he took the
title Sultan of Nejd in 1921. With the help of the Ikhwan, the Kingdom of
Hejaz was conquered in 1924–25, and on 10 January 1926, Ibn Saud
declared himself king of Hejaz.[103] For the next five years, he administered
the two parts of his dual kingdom as separate units.[75]
After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leadership's objective switched
to expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of
Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, and began raiding those territories. This met
with Ibn Saud's opposition, as he recognized the danger of a direct conflict
with the British. At the same time, the Ikhwan became disenchanted with
Ibn Saud's domestic policies which appeared to favour modernization and
the increase in the number of non-Muslim foreigners in the country. As a
result, they turned against Ibn Saud and, after a two-year struggle, were
defeated in 1929 at the Battle of Sabilla, where their leaders were
massacred.[104] On Ibn Saud's behalf, Prince Faisal declared the unification
on 23 September 1932, and the two kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd were
unified as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[75] That date is now a national
holiday called Saudi National Day.[105]
20th century
Main article: Modern history of Saudi Arabia
The oil well Dammam No. 7 on March 4, 1938, the day
it struck oil in commercial quantities, becoming the first in Saudi Arabia to do so
The new kingdom was reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage
revenues.[106] In 1938, vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Al-Ahsa
region along the coast of the Persian Gulf, and full-scale development of
the oil fields began in 1941 under the US-controlled Aramco (Arabian
American Oil Company). Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic
prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally.[75] Cultural life
rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the centre for
newspapers and radio. However, the large influx of foreign workers in Saudi
Arabia in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity
for xenophobia. At the same time, the government became increasingly
wasteful and extravagant. By the 1950s this had led to large governmental
deficits and excessive foreign borrowing.[75] In 1953, Saud of Saudi
Arabia succeeded as the king of Saudi Arabia. In 1964 he was deposed in
favour of his half brother Faisal of Saudi Arabia, after an intense rivalry,
fuelled by doubts in the royal family over Saud's competence. In 1972,
Saudi Arabia gained a 20% control in Aramco, thereby decreasing US
control over Saudi oil.[107] In 1973, Saudi Arabia led an oil boycott against the
Western countries that supported Israel in the Yom Kippur War against
Egypt and Syria, leading to the quadrupling of oil prices.[75] In 1975, Faisal
was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid and was
succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid.[108]
